Crossings Bistro and Bar

This following review was written for Rochester Southwest Life shortly after Crossings opened, though I have added a bit more to it. 

One of Rochester’s newer restaurants was the choice for a Saturday lunch.  Crossings Bistro and Bar (http://www.crossingsbistroandbar.com/index.html) recently opened downtown, connected to the Kahler Inn & Suites and across Center Street from the Gonda Building; it has a great downtown location. 

Upon arriving in the restaurant we were greeted promptly and seated.  Immediately one of the other wait staff arrived with menus and to take our drink orders.  Crossings has Coca-Cola products, coffee, tea, milk, a well stocked bar with signature mixed drinks and cocktails, a handful of tap beers, about two dozen bottled beers, and several wines by the bottle or glass.  Happy hour is from 3 to 7 pm everyday where five different drink specials are featured for the beer, wine, and signature drinks. 

The ambiance of Crossings has a modern, sleek feel to it with open spaces, various earth tones, blacks, dark wood, and exposed rock.  The restaurant was well lit and there were flowers and plants all around, though I found some of the plants to be too close to the booths where they interfered with the comfort of sitting in the booth.  There is also a large patio to sit at when it isn’t one of the nine months of Minnesota winter. 

Crossings has soups, salads, a nice selection of sandwiches, and more substantial entrées made with chicken, beef, pork, seafood, and pasta.  The items on the menu sound well thought out and a little different from the regular Rochester fare, such as Pot au Feu and Shrimp au Poivre. 

The menu says they specialize in catered premium office luncheons, which is a great idea for their proximity to downtown businesses.  Because of this I opted to try one of the several sandwiches on the menu.  The Reuben sandwich is one of my personal favorites, though I hesitantly order it at restaurants because it is often improperly prepared.  I decided to give it a try anyhow.  I also upgraded my side from the kettle chips to the truffle fries.  My two dining companions opted for the Steak Sandwich and the Patty Melt. 

Our food came out after a short while, which was quite impressive for such a new restaurant.  My Reuben, at $12 including the $2 side upgrade, was fantastic, as in the best Reuben I’ve ordered at any restaurant.  I’ve ordered dozens of Reubens before and this easy was tops.  Seriously.  The reason is simple; they used the correct corned beef.  Crossings uses beef brisket for their corned beef which is absolutely essential due to its fatty, tender richness.  The sandwich was a beautiful combination of flavors, textures, and tastes.  The bread was nicely toasted and studded with caraway seeds, the corned beef, as aforementioned, was rich and decadent, sauerkraut provided a nice vinegary acid, the cheese was salty and creamy, and the sauce was rich, sweet, and tangy.  It was very well balanced.

The truffle fries were fantastic, easily the best fries in town and probably the best fries I have ever tasted.  I am not a huge French fry fan, but I have gone back to Crossings just to order these.  I’d take them over Newt’s “best fries” any day.  The truffle component provided a nice, earthy note; they were seasoned fantastically with salt, cheese, and some herbs, and cooked perfectly.  Inside the fries were creamy and outside they were crispy.  This is how fries should taste and should be made.  They could easily stand alone on their own, unlike any other fries in town.  Also served with the sandwich was coleslaw that was creamy, acidic, crunchy, sweet, and had the taste of celery seed.  Overall it was fine coleslaw. 

Next up is the Steak Sandwich, also at $12 with a $2 side upgrade to the fresh fruit.  The steak was requested to be cooked medium and it was cooked nicely.  With the char-grilled steak was Ama Bleu cheese and caramelized onions on a toasted sourdough roll.  Overall the sandwich was successful.  The steak was a little tough, but the richness of it was cut nicely with the sweetness of the onion and funkiness of the blue cheese.  All of this was sandwiched between the toasted bread, which provided an excellent contrast in texture to the soft onion and cheese and the chewy steak.  The fruit assortment was nice and a departure from the normal.  Besides melon and pineapple there were strawberries and raspberries.  All were fresh, sweet, and delicious.

The Patty Melt, also at $12 with a $2 side upgrade, was also successful overall.  The same bread was used for this as the Reuben and was toasted equally as nicely.  Melted on the burger patty was both Swiss and Cheddar cheese and there were caramelized onions on it as well.  Although the burger to bread ratio was a bit amiss, the sweetness of the onions, the richness of the beef, and the salty cheeses worked nicely with the toasted bread to create a nice sandwich.  The same truffle fries and coleslaw were served with the Patty Melt.

Our server at Crossings was good, though the service was lackluster.  It seemed that our server and another were serving the entire restaurant while two others stood around and didn’t do much.  There were a couple times where the service could have been quicker, but our waitress did a fine job; she was pleasant and professional.  With better teamwork the service could be constantly great.

Crossings Bistro and Bar was a pleasant find that I look forward to revisiting soon.  The food surpassed my expectations and I’m sure the service will be improved.  If you are looking for a nice place to eat downtown, check out Crossings.  They are open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, conveniently located, and offer some fantastic food options.

Since the above review I have been back to Crossings a few more times to get the Reuben again and to try a few other menu items.  Everything I have had has been tasty.  I have not been there in the last few months so I hope they have kept up their food’s tastiness.  One area that I have repeatedly noticed as lackluster in all of my visits is their service.  I mentioned this above, but I hope it has gotten better in the last few months.  The times I had been there I thought that if they could have the service match the food they would be in good shape.  I will have to make it back there again soon, before they close because Rochester hates anything that isn’t a chain, to get another Reuben and truffle fries. 

I was disappointed to see that Crossings was a runner up to best new restaurant, with the Texas Roadhouse claiming victory.  I’ve only eaten at Texas Roadhouse once, and that was a few years ago in Bismarck, North Dakota.  I remember it being good, or at least I don’t remember being offended by it, but still, I think Crossings should have claimed that title.  If nothing else it is local and it was open longer.  Oh well, we all know the best of Rochester thing is all a popularity contest anyway.  How else does some subpar dish at Victoria’s always win best Italian dish in town?

To recap:

Food:  Excellent.  They have a great variety of food, with some not so run of the mill offerings.  They make the best Reuben I have ever had at a restaurant, narrowly beating out Homemade Café in Pepin, Wisconsin.  Crossings truffle fries are also wonderful.  I am not a French fry fan and I make it a point to pay an extra $2 for these deliciously seasoned and cooked fries.  These fries have overtaken my former personal favorite fries, Tinn’s.  They also had a nice fruit assortment that wasn’t under ripe melon and pineapple and part way to raisin grapes.  I have had a few of their different menu offerings and found all to be great.

Service:  This is going off of memory now, but it was a little lackluster.  The servers I have had have been good to average, but overall, it seemed that the servers lacked teamwork with some certainly not pulling their weight.  Even so, the food came out in a timely manner and the servers that I have had have been helpful in menu suggestions and seemed knowledgeable.

Drinks:  They have Coca-Cola products so that is an instant victory over most other restaurants that serve that vile Pepsi stuff.  They have a full bar, wine, bottled beer, and tap beer.  They have the typical Minnesota taps that are a sorry excuse for beer, but also a couple properly made beers.  The last times I was there they have had Summit EPA and Sam Adam’s Boston Lager.  Their daily happy hour seems to have some great deals.

Ambiance:  It’s a cool looking place.  Quite modern in a good way, sleek, exposed rock, dark wood, lots of light through the windows, and a nice sized patio for the few days a year it is above freezing here in Minnesota.  Some of the interior plants seemed to be placed poorly that limited movement in and out of the middle booths, for example, and I don’t like feeling like plants are attacking me. 

Conclusion:  If you can’t tell, I am a fan.  Go there.  Often.  Unless it has gone way downhill in the last few months you won’t be disappointed.  The service may leave something to be desired, but the truffle fries and the Reuben are worth it.  Try some of their other stuff too; I’m sure it is at least better than decent.  I sure hope they can make it in Rochester’s utterly pathetic restaurant scene.  Great news!  We are getting another Denny’s!  Ugh.  It’s places like Crossings that make eating out worth it.  Now I need to get back there again soon….perhaps this weekend.